DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL RUBY PARK, KOLKATA

CLASS VIII
SESSION 2022-23
GEOGRAPHY: STUDY MATERIAL

CHAPTER: HUMAN RESOURCE

People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty becomes significant
only when people find it useful. It is people with their demands and abilities that
turn them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the ultimate resource.
Healthy, educated and motivated people develop resources as per their
requirements

Key definitions

Demography: The study of population is known as Demography.

Census: The official collection of population data by all means is known as

Census. This is conducted once in ten years. Currently, we are following 2011
census.

Human Resource: Human Resource or people are the greatest asset to a nation.
Human beings use their knowledge and skill to convert natural resource into
more valuable goods.

Density of Population: The number of people living in a unit area of the earth's
surface is known as density of population. It is normally expressed as per square
km.

Importance of human resource

Human resource or people are a nation's greatest resource; they are an asset to a
nation. People are important to develop the economy and society. It is people
with their demands and abilities that turn a thing into 'resources'. Human beings
use their knowledge and skill to convert natural resource into more valuable
goods. Hence, human resource is the ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and
motivated people develop resources as per their requirements. Human resources
like other resources are not equally distributed over the world.

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Distribution of population.
The way in which people are spread across the earth surface is known as the
pattern of population distribution. More than 90 per cent of the world’s
population lives in about 30 per cent of the land surface. The distribution of
population in the world is extremely uneven.

More than 90% of the world population lives in the continents of the Northern
Hemisphere, whereas only 10% of the population resides in the continents of
the Southern Hemisphere.

Population density is the number of people living in a unit area of the

earth’s surface. It is normally expressed as per square km. The average
density of population in the whole world is 51 persons per square km.
South Central Asia has the highest density of population followed by East
and South East Asia.

The density of population varies from place to place. As per the density of
population, the entire world can be divided into three areas:

(a) Thickly Populated Areas: The fertile river valleys and the industrial
regions are thickly or densely populated areas. E.g. Northern plain of India,
Western Europe, East-central North America, etc.

(b) Moderately Populated Areas: Areas where new industries have been setup
and facilities of irrigation and mining are moderately populated areas. E.g.
Deccan plateau of India, Central China, Parts of South America, etc.

(c) Sparsely Populated Areas: Areas with extremely hot or cold climatic
conditions, mountainous areas are sparsely populated areas. E.g. Tundra regions
in North, Amazon basins, Sahara deserts, etc.

Factors affecting the distribution of population in the world.

Following are the factors affecting the distribution of population in the world:

Geographical Factors:
(a) Topography: People always prefer to live on plains rather than mountains
and plateaus because these areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and
service activities. The Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the
world while mountains like Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.

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(b) Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are very hot or very
cold like Sahara Desert, Polar Regions of Russia, Canada and Antarctica.

(c) Soil: Fertile soils provide suitable land for agriculture. Fertile plains such as
Ganga and Brahmaputra in India, Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the
Nile in Egypt are densely populated.

(d) Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh water is easily
available. The river valleys of the world are densely populated while deserts
have spare population.

(e) Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more populated. Diamond mines
of South Africa and discovery of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people
in these areas.

Social, Cultural and Economic Factors:

(a) Social: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more
densely populated e.g., Pune.

(b) Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance attract people.

Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican City are some examples.

(c) Economic: Industrial areas provide employment opportunities. Large

number of people are attracted to these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in
India are two densely populated areas.

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Population Change
The population change refers to change in the number of people during a
specific time.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY!

For an extremely long period of human history, until the 1800s, the world’s
population grew steadily but slowly. Large numbers of babies were born, but
they died early too.

This was as there were no proper health facilities. Sufficient food was not
available for all the people. Farmers were not able to produce enough to meet
the food requirements of all the people. As a result, the total increase in
population was very low.

In 1804, the world’s population reached one billion.

A hundred and fifty-five years later, in 1959, the world’s population reached 3
billion. This is often called population explosion.

In 1999, 40 years later, the population doubled to 6 billion. The main reason for
this growth was that with better food supplies and medicine, deaths were
reducing, while the number of births still remained fairly high.

COMPONENTS OF POPULATION CHANGE

Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. the number of live
births per 1,000 people.

Deaths are usually measured using the death rate i.e. the number of deaths
per 1,000 people.

Migrations is the movement of people in and out of an area.

Births and deaths are the natural causes of population change. The difference
between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural
growth rate.

Migration is another way by which population size changes. People may move
within a country or between countries.

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Emigrants are people who leave a country; Immigrants are those who arrive in a
country.

Countries like the United States of America and Australia have gained in-
numbers by in-migration or immigration. Sudan is an example of a country that
has experienced a loss in population numbers due to out-migration or
emigration. The general trend of international migrations is from the less
developed nations to the more developed nations in search of better
employment opportunities. Within countries large number of people may move
from the rural to urban areas in search of employment, education and health
facilities.

Why do people migrate?

Sometimes people have a choice about whether they move, but sometimes they
are forced to move. The reasons people leave a place are called the push
factors. The reasons people are attracted to new places to live are called
the pull factors.

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Advantages and disadvantages of migration
Migration can bring advantages and disadvantages to the country which is
losing people and also to the host country.

Country losing people

Advantages Disadvantages

Money sent home by People of working age move out reducing the size of
migrants the country's potential workforce

Gender imbalances are caused as it is typically men

Decreases pressure on
who seek to find employment elsewhere. Women and
jobs and resources
children are left

Migrants may return

'Brain drain' if many skilled workers leave
with new skills

Host country

Advantages Disadvantages

Increasing cost of services such as

A richer and more diverse culture
health care and education

Helps to reduce any labour shortages Overcrowding

Migrants are more prepared to take on Disagreements between different

low paid, low skilled jobs religions and cultures

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Population Composition
To understand the role of people as a resource, we need to know more about
their qualities. People vary greatly in their age, sex, literacy level, health
condition, occupation and income level. It is essential to understand these
characteristics of the people. Population composition refers to the structure of
the population.

Age and sex composition

An interesting way of studying the population composition of a country is by

looking at the population pyramid, also called an age-sex pyramid.

A population pyramid shows:

• The total population divided into various age groups, e.g., 5 to 9 years, 10 to
14 years.

• The percentage of the total population, subdivided into males and females, in
each of those groups.

The pyramid for Kenya has a very wide base. This means that there is a high
proportion of young people. The top is quite narrow which means there are
fewer people in the older age groups. This type of pyramid is more likely to
occur in a developing country where birth rates are generally higher.

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 The pyramid for Japan is a different shape. It does not look like a pyramid. The
base is not as wide as the Kenyan pyramid. The middle is wider and the top is
taller. This type of pyramid is more likely to occur in a developed
country where birth and death rates have fallen.

What does this mean?

• A wide base means there are lots of young people, and suggests a high birth
rate.
• A narrow base means a smaller proportion of young people, suggesting a
low birth rate.
• A wide middle, tall pyramid means an ageing population, suggesting that
there is a long-life expectancy.

Age Composition

The age composition of a population refers to the number of people in different

age groups in a country. It is one of the most basic characteristics of a
population. The number and percentage of a population found within the

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children, working age and aged groups are notable determinants of the
population’s social and economic structure.

The population of a nation is, generally, grouped into three broad

categories: Children (generally below 15 years) They are economically
unproductive and need to be provided with food, clothing, education and
medical care.

Working Age (15–59 years) They are economically productive and

biologically reproductive. They comprise the working population.

Aged (Above 59 years) They can be economically productive though they may
have retired. They may be working voluntarily but they are not available for
employment through recruitment.

The percentage of children and the aged affect the dependency ratio because
these groups are not producers. The children and the aged are called dependent
population.

Sex Ratio

Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in the population.
This information is an important social indicator to measure the extent of
equality between males and females in a society at a given time. The sex ratio in
India has always remained unfavourable to females.

Literacy Rates

Literacy is a very important quality of a population. Obviously, only an

informed and educated citizen can make intelligent choices and undertake
research and development projects. Low levels of literacy are a serious obstacle
for economic improvement. According to the Census 2011, a person aged 7

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years and above, who can read and write with understanding in any
language, is treated as literate. There has been a steady improvement in the
literacy levels in India. The literacy rate in the country as per the Census of
2011 is 73 per cent; 80.9 per cent for males and 64.6 per cent for females.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Discuss the characteristic features of densely populated countries.

• Regions where population is above 200 persons per square km.

• Density is very high in fertile river valleys and intensively cultivated areas of Asia.
• The industrial and urbanised regions like Western Europe are also densely
populated.
• These regions have moderate climate.

2. What is birth rate and death rate?

• Birth rate is a measure of the number of live births. It is the number of live births
per 1000 population in a given year.
• Death rate is a measure of the number of deaths. It is the number of deaths per 1000
people in a given year.

3. What is sex ratio what does it indicate?

• Sex ratio is the number of females per thousand males.

• Sex ratio indicates the status of women in a country. Countries in Europe have a
favourable sex ratio. It means the number of females is more than males in Europe.
Here the socio-economic status of women is better.
• It also indicates that level of literacy is high. Female literacy is also high.
• Unfair and socially detrimental activities like female infanticide are not practised in
countries with a favourable sex ratio.
• In these countries women actively participate in the work force and contribute
towards the country’s national income.
• Countries like India and Saudi Arabia have an unfavourable sex ratio. Here women
have low social status. Incidences of domestic violence, practices like female
infanticide, lack of education, gender discrimination are common.

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4. Write a brief note about dependency ratio.

• The comparison between two age groups is used to calculate the dependency ratio.
• Dependents are the children below 15 years and the elderly above 60 years of age.
Economically active population falls between 15 and 65 years of age.
• The ratio between these dependent and economically active groups is called
dependency ratio.
• Dependency ratio is high in India and Indonesia.

5. ‘Quantity as well as quality of population are equally important’. Justify.

OR
Discuss which aspect of population is more important ‘quantity or quality’.

• In the past when most of the work was done manually, it was the size of the
population that determined the power of a country.
• After industrial revolution the focus shifted from mere number of people to a
well-trained and skilled population. The composition of population became
more important especially regarding economic development of a country.
• Both Bangladesh and Japan are densely populated, however Japan is far more
economically developed. This is because of the difference in the composition
of population of the two countries.
• Today people need to technology, education, training and skills to carry out
productive work.

6. What is meant by Human resource?

• All resources in nature gain significance when people find some use for them.
• Only when people utilise and exploit it, does a material assume the status of a
resource.
• People are therefore the greatest asset and resource of a nation.
• Healthy educated and motivated people contribute immensely to the growth and
development of a country.

7. On the basis of skill, how are people classified?

On the basis of skill labour can be classified as:

• Unskilled – having no specific skills.
• Skilled – have the basic skills required for the job.
• Highly skilled – has expertise in the skills required for the job.

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